Firms Tied to Officials Win DWP Contracts

Commissioners who oversee the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power voted unanimously Tuesday to award a $1.25-million litigation contract to two law firms associated with former Mayor Richard Riordan and former Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg.

The commission granted the contract to Riordan & McKinzie and Mayer, Brown, Row & Maw at the request of the city attorney’s office.

Hertzberg’s firm -- Mayer, Brown, Row & Maw -- is set to assist city lawyers in defending the DWP against allegations that it gouged state ratepayers during the energy crisis. (Hertzberg, whose legislative term recently ended, became a partner in the firm last week.)

Riordan & McKinzie, meanwhile, will work with City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo’s office on litigation against Reliant Energy Services. The city is suing Houston-based Reliant, claiming it engaged in practices that drove up the price of natural gas.

Riordan helped found Riordan & McKinzie but he no longer works for the firm.

DWP General Manager David Wiggs said Delgadillo’s office picked the two law firms from a field of 14 that responded to an ad the city placed in a legal newspaper. Wiggs presented the five DWP commissioners with a memo urging them to approve the city attorney’s selection. Commissioners voted 5 to 0 to approve the contract.

“Of the firms interviewed, Mayer stood out to provide assistance in the areas of antitrust and unfair competition,” according to Wiggs’ memo. “Riordan has current experience in horizontal natural gas price fixing, including but not limited to natural gas transactions and the use of Enron online for gas trading.”

Hertzberg’s firm will be paid $750,000 over the next three years. Riordan & McKinzie will be paid $500,000 over the next two years.

Wiggs worked as Hertzberg’s energy advisor before he was hired by Riordan to head the DWP a year and a half ago. In addition, Delgadillo was a deputy mayor to Riordan, whose support helped the city attorney win election in a close race last year.

But city officials say the firms were selected not because of political connections but because they were most qualified.

“The city attorney’s office went through an extensive selection process,” Wiggs said. “I have absolute confidence that it was based on merit.”